


Boyfriend Reveal

by MikeWritesThings



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Bodyswap, Established Relationship, Flirting, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Octane | Octavio Silva Has ADHD, Public Display of Affection, Relationship Reveal, Trans Octane | Octavio Silva
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27427087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikeWritesThings/pseuds/MikeWritesThings
Summary: Octavio's eyes lit up, and it was so, so strange for Taejoon to see that expression on his own face."This is just like Freaky Friday!" He exclaimed."It's Tuesday."(or: the day that Octane and Crypto decide to go public with their relationhip, something unexpected happens.)
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Octane | Octavio Silva
Comments: 11
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crowkiiing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowkiiing/gifts).



> if u saw me post this fic twice no u didn't.
> 
> spent a lot of time on google trying to figure out if accents were mental or physical and didnt get clear answers so just imagine octane saying amigo in cryptos accent thanks KFMLEWKMF
> 
> ANYWAYS THIS IS SOL'S LATE BDAY PRESENT HIIII SOL I LOVE UUUU

Taejoon was a light sleeper. 

He would toss and turn all night, snapping awake at the faintest of noises, which came in handy when you were on the run from authorities, but was a little annoying when your boyfriend was prone to talking in his sleep or otherwise being a nuisance. He had been startled into conciousness several times by Octavio wrapping his limbs around him like an octopus, so needy even in sleep.

His boyfriend slept like the dead. Well, ' _slept_ ' was a generous word—he would keep going and going until eventually passing out for a good twelve to sixteen hours—before leaping awake, raring to go again. It wasn't very healthy, and the few times Taejoon _did_ manage to drag him to bed in order to get him to have a normal sleep schedule, he only slept for about three hours max before getting up to do other things.

But today was not one of those days. Octavio had purposely stayed up late for several days so that he could sleep extra long this time around for some charity stream, where he was planning to reveal he and Taejoon's relationship to his massive following.

Taejoon was a bit... _apprehensive_ about it, but he had learned his lesson about being too secretive. It would only lead to even more suspicion and doubt cast upon him, and he had been over the pros and the cons in his head a thousand times. They'd argued over it, shouted, cried, slept on it, tried coming up with alternatives and compromises, before they eventually worked out something that he would be comfortable with. The proper amount of spotlight to ironically avoid detection.

So today was the day. Taejoon would be exposed to the world like some trophy boyfriend, and then his life would never know peace afterwards. He was _very_ aware of his teenage female fanbase—this was going to make them go wild.

At least they weren't as bad as Natalie's male fans. _Shudder._

He rolled over on his side to face his boyfriend, taking a moment to note every detail of Octavio and commit it to memory. Freckles and beauty marks on his skin, mapping out constellations that Taejoon could trace blindfolded with how familiar he was with it all. Pretty eyelashes and pretty lips that were normally forming a smirk or a laugh or something crueler, lips he loved kissing and biting and feeling on him. A scar over his eye and above his lip; all familiar territory.

He reached out, carding his fingers lightly through his boyfriend's hair, which was getting a little long, but you could hardly tell when he slicked it back. He let his fingers brush gently against his skin as he moved down his cheek, the column of his throat, before reaching his scarred chest marked with even more freckles.

He indulged himself and touched the top-surgery scars on his way down to Octavio's abs—feeling him not for any sexual reason, but just a want to observe the other while he was still. Take in every motionless detail when he usually moved so fast that it was all a blur.

Taejoon was almost as familiar with Octavio's body as he was his own. Every scar, every callus, every mole and freckle and bruise and bone that hadn't quite healed all the way but was perfectly functional...

"You feeling me up, or what?" 

His eyes traveled back up the other's body to see that he was awake, squinting at Taejoon with pursed lips, clearly fighting back a yawn. He retracted his hand as Octavio reached up to rub at his eyes, uncharacteristically slow—before he seemed to snap out of it and sat up abruptly, stretching his arms above his head in a show of wakefulness.

"Big day today," Octavio said loudly, and Taejoon sighed quietly. These little moments were always cut so short. "Ready to have everyone be jealous of you, cariño?"

"Why would they be jealous," Taejoon asked, voice flat, as he already knew what the man was going to say, but he would entertain him anyways.

"Because you're dating _me!_ The most desired twink in the Outlands, or whatever they're calling me right now."

 _The most desired twink in the Outlands_. He was so. Insufferable.

( _Don't laugh, idiot,_ he told himself as he felt the corners of his mouth twitch.)

Taejoon sat up as well, the blankets pooling around his waist as he watched Octavio reach for his legs, fingers already twitching with energy. His boyfriend's...well, _everything_ could be rather endearing sometimes, but was a little exhausting other times. This seemed to be the case for today, as nervousness was mounting inside of Taejoon, and he was starting to doubt his own readiness to do this whole thing.

He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, trying to find the right words to say, but then Octavio was on his feet and walking around to his side of the bed, making sure to press a kiss to Taejoon's cheek before immediately bolting out of the room, probably to go on a run.

Taejoon watched the door slam after him before flopping back onto the bed. He had a feeling that today was certainly going to be...a _day_.

* * *

Wraith didn’t mind being on a team. She usually preferred working solo, but that wasn’t something that could really _happen_ in the Apex games. That didn’t mean she was directly opposed to the idea of working with people, either; just that she had her preferences.

She had her preferences for teammates, too.

Elliott, Pathfinder, and Natalie were her ideal partners, though she could usually work around most people, Makoa and Bloodhound coming to mind. And on their own, her _current_ teammates weren’t that bad.

Octavio was okay. Always rushed in on his own, which took bravery—or, at least, a complete disregard for consequences, but it suited her own style. Other people had balked at the way she aggressively pursued teams, and Octavio was one of the few people who managed to keep up with her.

Crypto was okay, too. His drone made up for what her Voices couldn’t tell her, and she could usually trust him to have her back if he wasn’t directly alongside her in attacking. He usually had a gameplan too, and that was always welcome.

On their own, her teammates were _okay_. Not ideal, but not the worst, either. She could make them work.

Or so she had thought.

What she hadn’t accounted for was for the two of them to be... _busy_ with one another.

“C’mon, amigo,” Octavio was saying, pushing hard against Crypto’s still form, which hadn’t budged for a good minute or so as he scouted ahead with his drone. “Let’s go! I wanna run!”

“You can wait,” Crypto said flatly, somehow managing to stand completely still despite Octavio putting all his weight into shoving him.

“But waiting is lame,” Octavio whined. “I don’t wanna waaaaait.”

“Too bad.”

“You’re taking this long on purpose.”

“I’m scouting.”

“Boo, I could do that all by myself!”

"You don't pay attention."

Octavio huffed, poking the other man's cheek. "Uh, yeah I do. I pay all _kinds_ of attention."

"What is my favorite color, then?" Crypto asked simply.

“Guys,” Wraith said, but they kept going at it like they didn’t hear her. She felt as if she were third-wheeling, somehow, and also felt that they weren’t _really_ arguing. She’d seen arguing every time she was on a team with Anita and Ajay, or Loba and Revenant. This wasn’t arguing—this was what she and Elliott had.

This was banter.

"Green!" Octavio said, as if it were obvious.

" _Ani,_ try again."

"It's _not_ green?!"

"It is not."

"Well, what's _my_ favorite color, then?" Octavio demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. Crypto didn't even look at him.

"Blue."

"How-?!"

“Guys,” Wraith repeated, but Octavio was now physically climbing Crypto’s body, trying to force him out of drone view, but failing spectacularly. _Pathfinder, I’m so sorry. I now know how you feel when we all squad up._

“One squad in the area,” Crypto said around the hand that Octavio had slapped over his face, right as a Voice told her, **Someone’s aiming at you.**

She phased, and a split second later, the spread of a Triple Take hit where her head had previously been.

“There they are,” Crypto said, and finally put his drone remote away. Wraith peered over the edge of the suspended train car all three of them had taken shelter in above Train Yard; Makoa’s squad was below them, the distinct orange shine of his gunshield obvious as he took aim at them. Wraith ducked as another shot was fired—and more shots sounded, but strangely, none of them hit the train car.

Peering over again, she saw that Anita’s squad was advancing on Makoa’s squad, Elliott sending out decoy after decoy to distract Makoa’s. An airstrike was called. Then another. Smoke filled the air from one of Anita’s canisters, and in the distance, she swore she heard the animalistic shriek of Bloodhound and _their_ squad.

“Oh, sweet,” Octavio said, and she could hear the grin in his voice. “Let’s get in on that.”

“No,” Wraith decided. “It’s a mess down there. I’ll punch us a portal, and when it looks like things are cooling down, then we can attack.”

“But that’s so—”

He suddenly caught sight of Bloodhound in the midst of all the squads below, the only one able to see through Anita’s smoke.

“Okay, sounds good,” he said.

Wraith phased so that nobody would see her dropping from the train car, running across the field to Drill Site as she placed the portal. She placed the exit in a safe area, not too exposed, and waited for her teammates to follow through.

They didn’t.

Faintly annoyed, Wraith turned on their comms again and spoke: “Guys?”

There was nothing. Then, she heard Octavio say “ _Fuck_ ”, and in the distance she saw an explosion shake the train car she’d just left.

Sighing, Wraith was prepared to go back through the portal to save those two dumbasses, but with a flash of blue, Octavio was suddenly standing there, stationary. His arms were spread akimbo, and his upper body lurched forward while his feet remained firmly planted on the ground. He didn’t say anything, just stood there awfully still, which was actually quite concerning.

“Where’s Crypto?” Wraith asked, still prepared to go through the portal to help her teammate out. Nobody would get left behind on her watch

“I can’t move,” Octavio said, but his voice sounded strange. “And I _am_ Crypto.”

Wraith stared at him, taking in his appearance—balanced precariously on his own two feet, strangely off-center. _Graceful_ was never a word one would typically use to describe Octavio Silva, but he usually moved as if his metal limbs were a physical part of him, made of flesh and bone rathed than unforgiveable steel. Right now though he looked like he could fall over at any moment.

Before she could say anything, Crypto was suddenly standing there too. He looked disoriented, and immediately stumbled into Octavio, who fell to the ground and made no effort to stand up. Crypto then straightened his back, squinting into the sky, before making a face that was undecidedly un-Crypto like.

“Since when was I so _tall_?”

 **Oh no,** one of Wraith’s Voices said, and she couldn’t help but agree.

* * *

In Octavio’s defense, this _totally_ wouldn’t have happened if they’d just gone to fight the others in the first place. While Wraith was making them a getaway, he unhooked his G7 from his back and took aim at Elliott’s head, planning to exact his revenge on the other for that time he’d _somehow_ managed to throw three arc stars into Octavio’s legs, but Taejoon suddenly held his hand out and grabbed the barrel of his gun.

“Don’t,” he said, forcing it down, and Octavio pouted, because the other man was being extra annoying today. “Remember the plan.”

“Plans are so lame,” Octavio complained, hoping that the other could hear how displeased he was. “Let me run!"

He had so much _energy_ for today, because today was _The Day_. The Day he'd get to show off his cute boyfriend to the world, The Day he could start holding Taejoon's hand in public and kissing him for all to see—

"Octavio," Taejoon said, and the way he said his voice always made a shiver run down his spine, snapping him from his momentary fantasy. "Stay with me."

"If I get into trouble, I'll just run right back and take the portal!" Octavio tried to barter, but his boyfriend wasn't having it.

“Then they’ll know where the portal is.”

“Then the action comes to _us_!”

“ _Octavio_ ,” the other man repeated, now trying to use his grip on his G7 to guide him to the portal beside them. "No."

Octavio glanced down to the squads still shooting it out below. Bloodhound had been knocked, which was why he wanted to leap into the action now—they were cool, but they had an unfair advantage whenever Anita was around. And speaking of her, she was running away from Makoa's bombardment beside Mr. Pretty Boy. _Right_ within shooting distance.

“Octavio yes,” Octavio said, and then managed to yank his G7 from Taejoon's hand, managing to fire right at Elliott’s stupid face. He heard the trickster shriek _‘my beautiful nose!’_ , followed by a spattering of even more gunfire. He half-expected Taejoon to get mad at him, but to his surprise, the other man’s lips quirked up a little at the corners, like he was trying not to smile, but failing.

Octavio smiled back, even if nobody could see it under his mask.

"You loved that," he said, and Taejoon openly smiled at him now, making his chest do something funny.

"It was amusing, yes."

A strangely romantic moment amidst a bloodsport—cut short by a grenade landing at their feet. He turned his head to see that Anita was aiming another from her perch on a stack of crates, Elliott cradling his bloodied face in his hands, and said, “ _Fuck_.”

He and Taejoon both started for the portal, but the grenade went off, blasting the both of them off of their feet and through the portal at the exact same moment.

Instantly, Octavio knew something was very wrong. Going through portals was fast, faster than he could ever hope to be, but somehow....he was _stuck._ He hadn’t yet arrived out of the other end, and though it had only been five seconds at most, he figured that that was cause for concern.

He could always vaguely feel when other people were in the portal with him—it felt like wind brushing by his side—and he was so _sure_ that he could feel Taejoon there, right next to him, but then he was gone, and Octavio was in this void alone.

Then everything was bright—so bright it was almost painful, stinging his dry eyes, blinking in the sunlight.

That was the _first_ indicator that something was off. Everything should be covered in a psychedelic green glow, as he wore goggles to combat the fact that stim turned all of his senses up to eleven to the point that it was distracting; why was the sun shining? Man, fuck the sun, he wore goggles for a _reason._

The sun was the first thing he took note of before immediately tumbling to the ground, having bumped into someone as soon as he came out of the portal. Groaning, he managed to clamber to his feet, a strange sensation in his legs (wait, hold on, what do you _mean_ there was sensation in his legs?) but he was too busy blinking at the sudden brightness of the sun to truly notice it.

And man, he felt warm. Why was it so warm out here? Now his vision was clearing up, where the hell was he...

Ah! A familiar scene. Drill Site...but everything was off-kilter. Weird, like he was looking at a different angle.

And with a scrunch of his face, Octavio realized what was wrong.

“Since when was I so _tall_?” He asked, and looked around for Wraith, ‘cuz _surely_ she would know what the hell was going on, and he saw her standing there with wide pale eyes. He’d never seen that expression on her before, and he hoped that his bodycam was getting it.

“...Octane?” She asked, like she wasn’t so sure, and Octavio rolled his eyes.

“Uh, yeah?”

“Octane,” a different voice said, and hold on, _what the fuck_ , he’d heard that voice before while watching his own streams. That was _his_ voice! “I believe we have a problem.”

Octavio looked down to the source of the voice, and saw _himself_ lying sprawled in the grass, and holy shit, was he _really_ that skinny? God damn, no wonder Anita could toss him over her shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes.

Octavio stared down at himself, not really processing what was going on. Okay, so _maybe_ his stim wasn’t any good, and he was having a bad trip. _This_ had never been included in the side effects, though...

"Is this an Elliott thing?" He asked out loud. His throat kind of hurt. "Like, is this revenge for the nose?"

A _whoosh_ sounded from behind him before he got any sort of reply, and when Octavio turned around (stumbling a little, but he wasn’t sure why yet) he came face-to-face with Makoa, who suddenly didn’t seem as big as he usually did.

“Hey, brothas!” He laughed, and two more _whooshes_ followed him. Nat and Path. “Ready to have some fun with Gibby?”

"Gibraltar," Wraith said loudly, but went unheard. Octavio fumbled for his gun, trying to get a hold of his Volt—but all he felt was the barrel of a Mastiff.

 _Why do I have Tae's gun?_ Was the last frantic thought to cross his mind, unwilling to die today in such a _lame_ way, before the world went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> octane is a dumbass and didnt realize what happened yet but u can bet he will be very obnoxious once he wakes up. AMZISNDISNSI SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT I JUST RLY WANTED TO GET IT OUT FOR U SOL ILY <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo, something a lil different w this fic...smaller bite-sized chapters instead of me stressing myself out trying to fit everything in one go u.u ive been p stressed recently w school and stuff so !! shorter multi chap fic....sowwy
> 
> also theres like. 2 dick jokes in this . im not sorry <3

When Taejoon came to, he saw his own face staring at him with wide eyes. He looked at himself every day in the mirror, but somehow, seeing it from _this_ perspective was jarring and uncomfortable. The hair on his arms stood up, and his fingers curled into the sheet of the cot he was laying on.

He almost wanted to scream, or shove this impostor away. The familiar feeling of paranoia had already sunk its claws into him—that is, until the person using his face said,

“Man, I'm _so_ much hotter than I thought I was."

“I cannot _believe_ that that is the first thing you say to me,” Taejoon groaned, finally sitting up and feeling his neck crack as he did. Everything felt drastically different, which he supposed was to be expected; he would normally feel the need to stretch out his legs, but he couldn’t. It kind of bothered him, like an itch that begged to be scratched, but was some place unreachable.

He looked down at his dirt-covered arms, bruised elbows, and freckled skin, all territory he was familiar with—it was his boyfriend’s, after all. But that was the _thing_. It was _Octavio’s_ body, not his, and yet somehow he was occupying it.

He remembered the moment that he had stumbled out of the portal—cool air brushing against exposed skin, the first sign that something was wrong, followed by a bone-deep, aching pain in the middle of his thighs—no, not the _middle_ of them. The end of them, because beyond that point was nothing but steel.

It had been terrifying, especially when he had realized that he couldn't move.

“We’ve...switched bodies,” Taejoon mumbled, and saying it out loud made it feel so much more real.

Octavio’s eyes lit up, jubilant; a strange expression to see on Taejoon's own features. 

“This is just like _Freaky Friday!_ ”

“It’s Tuesday,” Taejoon pointed out dryly.

"Eh, same difference." Octavio paused. "You _have_ seen _Freaky Friday,_ right?"

"Of course I've seen _Freaky Friday,_ " he snapped.

"Hey, you've never even seen _Legally Blonde_ , so I was just wondering!"

"We used to watch that movie a lot at the orphanage," Taejoon said. He could not believe that the first thing they did in such a situation was discuss movies, but the situation did remind him of the movie somewhat. Just not a catalyst as bizarre as a fortune cookie.

“Good,” a voice suddenly said, startling then, and they both looked up to see Wraith coming through the door, which was a little unusual for her; she usually just opted to take a portal. Taejoon hoped that she had not heard their conversation just now. “You’re both awake.”

“What happened?” Taejoon asked. His voice sounded strange; like Octavio’s, that somewhat raspy color to his voice, but fundamentally different. As if Octavio was impersonating someone else—impersonating _him._

“I’m not quite sure,” Wraith mumbled, looking down at the place on her wrist where her phase-shifter normally resided. “I’m having my tech looked at, but the general consensus is that something happened to you two in the portal.”

“It was so _slow_ in there,” Octavio said, straightening up, and it was _strange_ to hear his voice like that. The way Octavio normally spoke was almost melodic, flowing up and down, so full of life and _energy_. It was weird to hear his own voice replicating that same emotive pattern. “Like normally we go through and then pop out—but we were in there _forever,_ amiga.”

“Noted,” she said, before shifting her pale gaze to Taejoon. “Anything to add, Kim?”

“We also went through it at the same time,” he mumbled, trying to recall those moments—the grenade, Octavio swearing, the way they had both bolted for the whirling vortex before a bang went off and sent them flying. “Perhaps that is why the switch occurred?”

“Others have gone through at the same exact moment. This is an anomaly.” 

“Nothing strange has ever happened then?” Taejoon asked, somewhat in disbelief, and she pursed her lips, hesitating.

“Sometimes I...” she trailed off, staring at nothing, before shaking her head, as if trying to rid herself of a memory. “Maybe nausea. Motion-sickness. But nothing so...”

“Loco,” Octavio supplied helpfully, and the word just sounded so _off_ in his own voice. Remnants of Octavio's accent clung to the syllables, but it was still very much _Taejoon_. 

“Right. Well, keep me updated, you two. Nobody’s going through portals any time soon.” She made to exit the room, as if glad to leave them alone, but Octavio yelled out,

“Wait, that’s it?!”

“It’s a developing situation, Silva,” she said, sounding somehow both patient and impatient at the same time. “They’re using the rift in Singh Labs as a point of comparison. Frankly, I’d rather not let them be alone with my stuff for too long.”

Taejoon opened his mouth too so that he could interrogate her further, having taken note of her pause, but she slammed the door without another word, leaving the two of them alone. Taejoon respected her as both someone who was very good with tech and as a fighter, but her bluntness sometimes outpaced even his own. He would have liked to discuss this further with her, reach a logical conclusion and maybe understand how her phase-shifter worked—but she apparently didn’t want to be too far apart from her tech.

He supposed that was fair, given when he’d dug up about her.

He looked from the door to Octavio’s face, which was scrunched up a little. His mouth was turned up at the corners in a strange sort of smile despite the situation, and Taejoon felt disconcerted.

“Why do you look like that?” He asked cautiously, and Octavio’s strange and restrained smile turned instead into a huge grin.

“Bro,” he said, and pointed down at his crotch with enthusiasm. “I have a _dick_.”

Taejoon opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, before covering his face with his hands and sighing.

 _Don’t pay attention to him,_ he told himself. _It’s what he wants_.

"Hey, 'Joon, if I jack off right now, is that masturbating or is it me giving you a handjob?"

Taejoon loved his boyfriend. He truly did. But Octavio was sometimes just too fucking much.

He elected to ignore the other man and let his hands drop back down and swung his legs—no, Octavio’s legs—over the side of the bed, staring down at them and wondering how exactly they worked. He’d never given them much thought, but the task seemed so daunting from this perspective. It didn’t help that there was a strange, deep pain in his thighs that hurt and yet didn’t. A scar that he was sure must be there but actually wasn’t.

“Need help?” Octavio offered, and Taejoon nodded, taking the hand held out for him. He was pulled onto his feet, and the pain only seemed to mount once he was actually putting weight on his feet. Like a toothache, but ten times worse, and also unable to be pinpointed. He couldn’t tell if he was actually in pain or imagining it.

“How do you walk in these?" He managed to say out loud, and Octavio shrugged unhelpfully.

“One foot forward, I guess.”

“ _Gomawo_.” Taejoon said, sarcastic. He then tried taking a step towards the door before immediately crumpling, arms flailing wildly before he landed against Octavio’s soft chest. Well, _his_ chest. God, this was fucking confusing. 

“I can carry you, babe,” Octavio offered gleefully, having _way_ too much fun with this whole scenario, and Taejoon felt his face heat up at the fact that he couldn’t achieve such a simple task. He shoved himself off of Octavio, straightening his back, before cautiously shifting his hips and leading one foot forward. He tested his weight against it before trying to do the same thing with his other leg, and ended up leaning too far to one side and almost losing his balance again.

“Did you not take physical therapy for this?” Taejoon asked through grit teeth, hoping that Octavio would provide him some pointers, but his boyfriend just waved his hands around as he explained in a jumble of rushed words that actually he had _skipped_ physical therapy and escaped the hospital through a window before taking a train and—

“Hey, brothas,” a booming voice suddenly sounded, and Taejoon fell over again. “Just came in to—oh, my bad, Octav...I mean, Hyeon!”

A huge hand placed itself on the scruff of Taejoon’s neck, and he was lifted onto his feet again, feeling a lot like a cat as he was straightened up and patted on the back.

“Getting used to your new legs, eh?”

"....Somewhat."

“Guess what, Gibs,” Octavio taunted, sliding next to Makoa, and his boyfriend made such an insufferable expression then that Taejoon wanted to punch his own face. “You’re not that much taller than me anymore!”

“Enjoy it while you can, little guy,” Makoa chuckled, and Octavio sputtered immediately, scandalized that that had been the response he'd gotten. “I just came by to say sorry for taking you two out while you were in this condition. Wasn’t a fair fight.”

“I think that what you did was mercy,” Taejoon said quietly, and Makoa looked down at him. He was already aware that Makoa was a _big_ guy; huge, like Mystik’s son. But looking up at him from _Octavio’s_ perspective was something else entirely. He and his boyfriend were only four inches apart in height, give or take, but that small number seemed much more massive when standing next to Makoa. Taejoon normally came up to his chin, but in _this_ body, he was at shoulder-height _only_ if he straightened his back as much as possible.

(And that wasn’t even getting started on the difference of the mass in their arms. Makoa’s biceps were huge, and Taejoon’s next to his were... _wait, no, stop being being gay, you fucking idiot, now you’re just looking for an excuse to look at his muscles_.)

“You alright? You’re pretty red, brotha,” Makoa laughed, patting him on the back, which was humiliating. Octavio’s face was very expressive and he blushed easily, which was partly why he wore the mask—to hide his true intentions and feelings from everyone else. Now Taejoon would have to suffer through this affliction as well.

“I’m fine,” he snapped quietly, crossing his arms over his chest and fighting back the heat. Octavio was bouncing on his feet across from them, making his—or Taejoon’s—hair bounce along with him. 

“‘Koa, guess what,” he said excitedly, and Makoa let out a hum, also smiling like one does to an over-excited puppy. “I’ve got a dick!”

“Good for you!” He laughed, and Taejoon covered his face again, the heat coming back in full force. If he could move his legs, he would have run away by now. “It’s so nice to see you smilin’, Hyeon. Or, er, Octavio. But with Hyeon’s face!”

“Take a picture if you like it so much," Taejoon said, muffled through his fingers.

“I might as well!” Makoa pulled his phone out, dwarfed easily by his huge palm, before holding it up. Octavio smiled wide, and the photo was snapped. “Might be the last time I see it.”

Taejoon waited for Makoa to amble out, wishing the both of them luck, before rounding on his boyfriend (and nearly falling over in the process).

“Stop doing that,” he said.

“Stop doing what?”

“Smiling.”

“I can’t help it,” Octavio said, flapping his hands, and Taejoon felt something akin to guilt inside of him for snapping at the other man, who was still visibly excited. He knew _why_ that must be, even if he was slightly embarrassed that it was _his_ body that he was parading around in. “Can I—”

“Fine,” Taejoon sighed, cutting him off, and Octavio undid his belt with something like glee in his eyes. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, anyways, Taejoon told himself. But it was still strange to see a grown man so excited over...

Ah, well, maybe not strange after all. This must be a euphoric experience for Octavio, even if he couldn’t entirely relate. He had no time to feel any hang-ups in this body beyond the pain in his thighs, and he had the privilege of having his own body be exactly the way he wanted. Octavio didn’t have that, so he’d let the other enjoy it. For now.

Octavio was just starting to pull his pants down when the door opened again, and Ajay entered, looking somewhat harried.

“Oh, there you two are, I—”

She froze at the sight of them; standing across from one another, Octavio’s pants halfway down to his knees, underwear thankfully still on, but that didn’t change the fact that Taejoon’s body was half-fucking naked in front of her, so Taejoon stepped in front of Octavio and declared,

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“I don’t want to know,” she sighed, closing her eyes. “Silva, pull ya pants up.”

Octavio obeyed, wiggling his hips a little as he did so, and Taejoon felt his face growing hot again. Even if he wasn’t the one performing the action, it was still...

“Here to tell you two you’ve got the week off,” Ajay said, holding up a folded note with some of the head directors’ signatures on it. “Or rather, you’re being banned for a week. They don’t want ya messin’ up the Games like this.”

“I had the next three days off anyways,” Octavio said, snatching the paper from her to give it a cursory glance. “For my charity str...”

He trailed off, staring hard at the paper, before letting it fall to the floor.

“My charity stream,” he repeated, and then cursed. “Aw man, how am I supposed to...we were supposed to do the reveal today! _Mierda_!”

“That was today?” Ajay asked, raising her eyebrows. She was the only one who knew that the two of them were seeing each other, because she was Octavio’s best friend, and he couldn’t help but tell her everything. When they both nodded at her question, she pursed her lips.

“You probably don’t want to put it out there that your bodies have been switched. I bet ya’d get all sorts of nasty types like Nox comin’...” She let those words hang ominously in the air, before putting her hand on Octavio’s shoulder. “Just cancel the stream.”

“I can’t!” He said, shrugging her hand off, and Taejoon frowned.

“Why not? We can’t do something so important while we’re like...” He gestured vaguely with his hand, and Octavio actually stamped his foot like a child as he whined,

“But this has been planned for months, amigos, and if I cancel the charity stream _now_ it’s gonna be a bad look, okay?! I won’t be able to take another vacation until next season, what’re people gonna think if I wait that long to do it again?”

Taejoon did not like to hear the sound of his own voice whining so much. When it was Octavio’s voice, it was endearing. His was just grating.

“Why do you even care?” Ajay asked, genuinely curious.

“I can’t make money if nobody watches my stuff,” Octavio said bluntly, and she hit him.

Taejoon sighed, uncomfortable with how stationary he was being, but he did his best to lean towards his boyfriend anyway without losing his balance.

"Octavio," he said carefully, and his boyfriend looked towards him. It was very hard for him to talk to his own face without feeling somewhat crazy. "There is no way I can pretend to be you. I can't walk, and I don't do what you do. Plus, I do not like the fact that you're walking around with my face, because..."

_Because I'm a wanted criminal, and that could put you in danger._

"Because you're going to do something stupid and get me blamed," he said out loud. Octavio laughed at these words, but when Ajay shot him a glare he quickly quieted. Looking between them both with furrowed brows, he eventually groaned,

"Fine. I'll cancel it."

"Good on ya," Ajay said, before grinning towards Taejoon. "And if you wanted to set him up for somethin', I wouldn't blame you."

"I'm _right_ here," her best friend said. She waved goodbye to the both of them before exiting the room. They looked at each other, and Taejoon noticed a lot of things about himself that he'd never really had before, like how skinny his legs were. His jacket was very large on himself and bulky, thus making his legs look like sticks popping out of his torso. 

"Checkin' yourself out?" Octavio asked with a grin.

"Quite the contrary."

They left the medbay soon after and went to the main area of the dropship together—or rather, Octavio carried Taejoon all the way there, which he apparently found immensely funny. As soon he set foot in the living area Octavio practically dropped him, leaving Taejoon to regain his balance by scrambling for purchase against the wall and straightening up.

“This is—” Taejoon grunted, back popping unpleasantly as he tried not to flail. “ _Inconvenient_.”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Octavio drawled, letting his fingers dance across Taejoon’s midriff, which made him shiver. Ah, he knew his boyfriend was sensitive there, but he didn’t think he’d be _that_ sensitive. This was...interesting. Perhaps he would explore this body later just to...

_Stop being horny. That's weird._

Octavio continued, “If not, I can always dig out that wheelchair I use when my legs are being repaired.”

“Is this the same wheelchair that you begged Ramya to put rocket launchers on?”

Octavio just laughed instead of answering him, and made as if to move towards the kitchen—but Taejoon reached out and grabbed him by his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

“You are going to help me walk,” he told his boyfriend in a steady, level voice. “I’m not used to this.”

“I don’t know how to teach you!” Octavio said, earnest, which just made him want to strangle him even more. “I kind of just...winged it.”

"You can't just _wing_ something like this."

"But I did!"

“Hey, Cryppy!” A jubilant voice called, cutting their conversation short, and Taejoon felt dread overcome him. “Heard about you guys’ sit-u-a-tion!”

Elliott pronounced each syllable of that last word with a sort of unhinged maniacal glee that Taejoon had come to expect from the other man whenever he thought that he had gained the upper hand on him. He turned slowly to glare at the trickster, who was beaming as if Christmas had come early.

“Oh, that expression is great. You’re already shorter than me, but _this_? This is even better. Knocked ya down quite a few pegs, huh, old man?”

“Who told you,” Taejoon asked through grit teeth, wishing extra hard that he could move his legs. He would love to give Elliott a taste of his new metal foot.

“Path, obviously.” Elliott then turned his attention to Octavio, his hands placed on his hips and chest puffed out as if he were proud of himself. “Hey Tav, bet you guys can’t make any public appearances right now, huh? Reaaaal shame.”

Elliott glanced around, before leaning closer to them both conspiratorially, smiling wider. “Try and keep up in the public rankings if you can’t show for a while, heh.”

“I literally don’t care,” Taejoon said coolly. “Now back off before I kick you.”

The younger man pranced off, probably to go make out with his own reflection, or something, and Taejoon was just turning his head to address his boyfriend again when Octavio grabbed him by his shoulders.

“Change of plan, cariño,” he said, eyes narrowed, which was perhaps the most serious expression Octavio had ever made, even if it wasn’t on his own face. “I’m teachin’ you how to walk. And _you’re_ gonna pretend to be me.”

“...What?” Taejoon asked in disbelief, and Octavio's grip on him tightened.

“I am _not_ letting that puta outrank me this season. We made a bet. I want free Micheladas for a lifetime!”

“So you want me to _host a stream_ as you? Because you want _drinks?_ "

"Duh."

"For how long?"

Taejoon watched his boyfriend's streams to support him, of course, even left comments sometimes just to see the way he smiled, almost soft, just for him. But there was no way he could actually do the damn thing himself.

Octavio nodded anyways, and the dread that hung over Taejoon at that moment seemed to weigh even heavier. “The full twenty-four hours, baby.”

Taejoon loved his boyfriend. He truly did.

But sometimes, he was just too fucking much. 


End file.
